“Mr. Richelu! Mr. Richelu!”

“It’s been three weeks and not one word!?”

“Mr. Richelu!”

“The press and the world need to know!” The reporters swarmed him, as usual. The C.E.O. marched through the throng resolutely, the press of bodies barely held at bay by his bodyguards. He tuned them out, intent only on the boardroom.

“Global disaster-”

“-investigations ongoing-”

“...pending findings of the Quinn Report, which is examining every facet of this new technology…”

“-potentially greater loss of life than the Holocaust-”

At last he reached the room. THe doors were opened and he escaped inside, the guards standing in front like monoliths. Devan shook his head, then smoothed out his jacket.

“Damn sharks.” he muttered, downing the rest of his coffee. It was the only reason he was on his feet; even sunglasses barely hid the bags under his eyes. God, this was an ordeal.

“I see you made it.” Preston said, steepling his fingers. “At long last.”

“Sorry. I’ve been hounded by reporters every step I take lately. Getting out of my driveway’s a nightmare.” he muttered, plopping down in a chair. His assistant handed him a manilla folder thick with claims and reports. He rolled his eyes and tossed it aside. “Later.” He glanced around at the assembled chairmen. “Where’s Dan? Thought he’d be here.”

“He was fifteen minutes ago, delivering his report. Perhaps if you were more punctual, you’d have heard it. He hasn’t slept in three days, we decided to give him a break. He could barely speak, and he kept seeing things. We sent him home.” Preston said,sounding a tad concerned. Devan winced in sympathy; if an old bastard like PReston thought he wasn’t fit for duty, then Dan was half-dead at the least.

“Ah, if only we all could.” Devan leaned back in his chair. His tablet had been tuned to the news 24/7, and he watched the stock report. OceanView was deadlining, and only falling from there. “I take it you aren’t happy.”

“To say the least!” Waltz exclaimed, banging his fist on the table. Everyone started to grumble, but PReston held up a hand. Instantly, the rest of the shareholders fell silent.

“Though his method of showing it is poor, Waltz is correct. We are, as you say, not happy.” Devan shivered as Preston stared at him with cold, lizardlike eyes. “OceanView is finished. That is certain. Seven years, and more than ten billion dollars. That’s how much this little project cost us. And now, the chances of making that back, let alone profit? Lost. So please, explain yourself.” Devan suppressed a gulp. The old skinflint never believed in the vision. He ran a hand through his hair.

“Well, as of this time, we still don’t have control.” He shaded his eyes with his hand as the room erupted, demands for explanations and insults thrown at him for a solid five minutes. He let them vent, then Preston held up his hand again.

“Let him finish.” cut through the rabble like a knife.

“Like I said, we still don’t have control of the system, or its’ programs. This’s difficult to crack, because we’re not actually able to work with the OS at all. Even manual attempts to just gain access are shut down. We’ve been working round the clock, but between the police and the media circus, I’ve been too busy, and there’s little we can do anyway.” Devan explained.

“Can’t we just pull the plug?” one of the chairmen demanded. Devan shot him a withering look.

“We can, if you don’t mind nearly 13 million people going braindead at once. THis technology is delicate, banging on it like a caveman will produce poor results.” he said, and the boardmember backed down. “We are in a very...precarious position. But one thing we have learned, is that this isn’t a simple bug or virus. This had to be deliberate, intentional.”

The room erupted into noise again, and Devan looked down, squirming under the pressure. He could feel Preston’s gaze, sharp and heavy.

God, he’d never wanted this mess. It was all supposed to be so simple.

Once the room quieted down again, Preston spoke up like a snake rising through the grass.

“So you’re saying this is someone else hijacking your little toy?”

“Y-Yeah.” Devan muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

“I see. Do we have any idea who?” he asked icily. Devan sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“No, we don’t. Whoever’s doing this has covered their trail well. And no one’s stepped forward to claim responsibility, so...yeah. No doubt we could do something if we had access to the game, but for now all we can do is watch.” he said. Preston steepled his fingers and sat back. No one dared make a sound.

“Ah, yes. Recording through the players’ eyes, I believe, in addition to the cameras in-game.” Devan blinked. “Why are you surprised? You mentioned it in the schematics report two years ago. I may not know or care much about games, Mr. Richelu. But a detail like that does not escape notice. Have you found anything interesting, or relevant?” he said, his lips drawn in a thin, reptilian smile.

“Um, err, n-not at this time.” Devan said, clearly unnerved. Men more resolute than he had broken under that cold glare. “W-We’ve been mostly monitering the cities and major guilds. It’s a bit of a breach of privacy, but we can’t go to them to get permission, and it’s the only way we have to moniter the situation. We already got the court’s permission on that, evderything is in the strictest of privacy. The players seem to be holding out for the most part, barring a few who’re...on edge, shall we say. But we can’t monitor everything at the same time. Even with the police’s help, we don’t have enough people. Things slip through the cracks. The guild leaders have really stepped up, keeping things under control. But it’s only a matter of time until something happens that makes this kettle boil over.” He sighed. Three weeks. They’d been fighting three weeks to end this circus, and progress was still too slow.

“I see. Well, some sort of reward might be in order for those leaders. In the meantime, I suggest you get back to work. Your adoring public awaits.” Preston gestured to the door, and Devan grumbled, putting on his shades and shoving out the door, escorted through the mob of journalists. The board members stood and filed out ten minutes later, when the place was cleared. Waltz found himself walking next to Preston.

“That smarmy little bastard. Who does he think he is, giving us that crap?” he grumbled, nervously glancing at the old man. Preston narrowed his eyes.

“Mmm.” That cold gaze darted back and forth. “Waltz, how much do you know, really know about the operating system of this game?” he asked.

“Err...not much, offhand.” Waltz admitted, scratching his balding head.

“Neither do I. I do not care for the particulars. Both you and I have people for that. But what I do know is that no outside agency could gain control of a system this new, on this scale, this complex. Not without inside help.”

“Then....do you mean he-” Waltz started, but Preston held up a hand.

“I will not say anything that could end up in court as slander. I will, however, be launching my own private investigation into OceanView Studios.” He gave the shorter Waltz a sidelong glance. “You with me?”

“Of, of course sir!”

“Good. I suspect this will all be a very bloody affair. Keep your nose to the ground. This’ll get worse before it gets better.”

--------------------------------------------------------------

Devan sipped a mai tai as they left the mob behind in his limo. He swirled the drink absently, ruminating on what had gone down in the boardroom.

“God damnit. Assholes, all of them.” he murmured, his nerves trying to settle after jangling this way and that. He shook his head.

“Why’s it turning out like this? It should’ve never been like this.” He sighed and downed his drink in one gulp, the warm sensation in his belly growing. Heh. Rock star game designer, the top of the world. Look at him now.

He idly balanced the glass on his knee as they drove, staring out the window as the city rolled past. The city held around three million; over four times that was incapacitated. Everything felt like a dream, surreal. Had his game really gone down like this? It was almost too absurd to believe.

He closed his eyes behind his sunglasses, tint behind the tint of his windows. If only he could walk back what had happened. If only regrets could change the past.

But it was too late now.

He pulled out his phone and raised the window between him and the driver. It was hard, keeping this from the cops while they monitored everything. He was eternally in Blake’s debt.

Fortunately, they hadn’t looked too hard at Devan’s old college friends, expert programmers the lot of them. His employees had too many eyes on them, and besides. They couldn’t be trusted, not after this. They didn’t understand. They couldn’t understand, perhaps even Devan didn’t himself. But this had to be done. It was the only way. Believe in the cause.

“Hello?” Blake said after picking up, sounding exhausted.

“It’s me.” Devan said.

“I know it’s you. Couldn’t be anyone but you. What do you want?”

“Hey, don’t be like that. How’s it going? Right now, you’ve got more to do than I do at this point. I’m just a smokescreen right now.” Devan siad.

“Guuuuuuuuugh.” came from the phone. “Even with the code, it’s been tough going. We’re about 78% done, but we keep running into issues. But if all goes well, the program should be completed by the end of the week.”

“That’s the first good news in a long time.” Devan said, sighing with relief.

“If everything goes well. What’s this program for, anyway? It acts with your system weird, and that’s an understatement.” Blake asked. Devan smiled to himself.

“You leave that to me. Get it to me when you can. Once you do, it’ll all be over.” He hung up, chuckling sadly. Yes, everything would be over at last.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Randal sucked down his third coffee, the beans replacing his blood at this point. Eugh. Why had he wanted to do this again? The team was working non-stop, trying to collect, analyze, and process the data from the players’ brains, every single minute of the day. He shook his knee irritably.

“I think you know I’ve been very patient.” he said to his lead tech guy Hansen. Total nerd, but he knew his stuff. Or at least Randal had thought. “But this is rediculous! We spent a year and a half making that program, not to mention millions. And we still don’t have my army after nearly three weeks?”

“Very sorry sir, but it’s more complex than drag and drop. There are literally millions of variables we have to account for. The program’s working, we have 28% of the playerbase and growing, even if they don’t know it. But they’re all running scared, trying to stay alive as much as possible. We’ll have them, it’s inevitable, but we need to keep working.” Hansen said, never looking up from his screen. Randal growled; that pissed him off. He grabbed him by the shirt and pulled his gun out in one motion, holding the both of them up.

“I don’t like that tone. Not when we’re in the middle of an operation. Doesn’t matter how busy or tired you are, when I say jump you do it. Got it?” he hissed, staring into Hansen’s nonplussed eyes.

“Sir, we both know I’m far too valuable to the mission to risk. Please let me go so i can get back to work.” he said dully, as if darign Randal to blow his brains out. THe entire room was quiet and tense as they stared each other down, neither budging.

“So you think I won’t waste you because you’re irreplaceable?” Randal growled, the old bloodlust rising again. The beast demanded his finger pull the trigger.

“If you have any sense in you, yes sir. And you do.” Hansen replied evenly. Randal weighed hsi options, then decided. They’d been at this nineteen days already, any trouble meant further delays. and he’d been cooped up in this tiny office for too long.

“Fine.” he said, dropping Hansen into his chair. “But you’d better upload the program into these nerd’s brains quick. I don’t like waiting.”

“Of course, sir. It’d be better if we had some help from our benefactor. Any word?” Hansen said, resuming typing.

“Nah, he went home. He’s the only one who’s supposed to be here, and he’s gotta field reporters and fool the cops. Don’t envy him.” Randal chuckled. “Oh, that’s right. Hansen?” he asked.

“Yes sir?” Randal pulled out his gun and shot it right next to Hansen’s face. He could feel the heat, see the flash of the muzzle right out of the corner of his eye. The wind from the barrel was scorching, the bullet just barely grazing his cheek. “AAAAAAHH!” Suddenly, his long hair was grabbed and his head was pulled back, the gun jammed in his throat.

“LIsten you little shit. I know you’re vital to the mission, so you’re too valuable to kill. But not enough that I can’t carve your toes away one by one, followed by your ears, then your nose, and then I move onto individual muscle groups a nerd like you doesn’t need. So go ahead, talk back to me again. You might suddenly find that value diminished.” Randal said coldly to the panting Hansen, whimpering. “Understood, soldier?”

“Uh...ugh…”

“I said, UNDERSTOOD!?”

“Y-Yes sir!” Hansen pleaded. Satisfied, Randal let go and turned twoard his other soldiers.

“Well? Get typing! And no lip! It’s been far too long already, this operation should’ve been over ten days ago! Everyone's in it, so do your jobs!” he barked and everyone jumped, enthusiastically clacking away and bringing bandages to the sniffling Hansen. His cheek was marked. Randal nodded. Even through that, the nerd kept working. That’s what he liked to see.

He strolled down to the lower deck of the office, absently watching the geeks program. 28%. Not bad, but not nearly enough. It was faster to upload the program into everyone’s brain at once. But God this scan was slow.

“Christoff.” he said, and the curly-haired blond kid flinched. Randal smiled. “Relax. We’ve been working on this too long, we’re all tense. So we should hurry it up. How’s our agent doing?”

“R-Right now, he’s off-duty. He has to keep up appearances, r-remember?” Christoff squeaked. Randal stroked his chin.

“Hmm, yeah. But get him on the line, I wanna talk to him, get a progress report, maybe send him after those guys who’ve been evading the orcs.” he said, eyeing the headset in the corner. All this was far too much. He’d have to step in if progress remained slow.

“Roger.” A few minutes later, they were connected to their man on the inside.

“Hiya. It’s me.” Randal said, grinning.

--------------------------------------------------------------

“Look out!” Marie called, but Shannon was way ahead of her.

“Alley-oop!” Shannon rolled, the Raider’s long, flowing red ponytail whipping around her as she got up and stabbed the troll. “Keep it going! Don’t let it regenerate!”

“Pillar of Flame!” Aggie called, a grin framed by blue hair poking out underneath her witches’ hat. The troll howled as it burned, flailing it’s club wildly.

“Hmph. Pathetic Magus.” Izumi boasted, nocking arrows and firing them off faster than bullets. The troll exploded, but the ornery centaur reared up, swinging his flail and scaring Katie, the thirteen-year old.

“Gyaah!” She cut and ran into the arms of their Priest, Shelly. “Get him! Please! Dultina, Aggerthorn!” The tiny digital fairy giggled and slipped out of Katie’s robes, firing Magbolts at the centaur while Aggerthorn stepped forward menacingly, the enormous warg interposing itself between the centaur and his master.

“Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Shelly soothed, stroking her hair. The centaur got out a horn and blew into it. “Oh no you don’t! Lance of Light!” From her outstretched hand came a super-bright laser, piercing the horn so he couldn’t summon more reinforcements. But it was too late, even as Katie’s monsters finished the centaur off. From across the field came an answering horn, and the party saw an army of centaurs materialize, marching grimly with weapons drawn.

“Ho boy! We’re in trouble now!” Alyssa said, her twin brown braids shaking as she poured and mixed potions, a manic grin on her bespectacled face. “Don’t worry! I got just the thing!” She giggled as her beaker belched and turned a violent green. “Shannon, want a boost to your stats!?” The redheaded Raider looked up from adjusting her stockings and blanched.

“No thank you!”

“C’mon everyone! We can do this! Together!” Marie said, stepping up and slinging her guitar to her hands. Her MP depleted as her Bard song activated, rock replacing the BGM to increase their TGH 25%.

“Hmph. They shall fall.” Izumi said, drawing another arrow.

“THere’s way too many of them to fight through!” Katie said, but Shelly clasped her hands in front of her well-endowed chest in prayer.

“Don’t worry. Faith shall be rewarded. All you must do is believe.” she said. The horde grew closer, Shannon the first to step forward, a grimace on her face. Level difference only accounted for so much.

“Here they come!” Aggie shouted, drawing her wand.

“And here I go!”

Z-CRSSHHHH!

Nearly half the centaurs were defeated and digitized at once, a volcanic eruption of data sparking and showering the battlefield. But it didn’t stop there.

“You won’t lay a hand on my friends!” There was a black shape behind the centaurs. Before their A.I. could comprehend their opponent, he vanished faster than the eye could see. Wherever he went, mobs died. He could only be tracked by the eliminated enemies, a swath of digital destruction in his wake. THe girls all breathed a sigh of relief.

“C’mon ladies! He’s hogging all the fun!” Shannon whooped and jumped into the fray, her katana flashing as she sliced and diced.

“Hmph. Foolish woman.” Izumi unleashed an arrow, charged with a magic spell arcing over the battlefield. “Rain of Devastation.” she said, swiping her hand down. The one arrow turned into ten, then fifty, then one hundred. The cries of the fallen elicited a small smile from her.

“That’s kinda heartless, dontcha think?” Alyssa said as she pulled potions and crystals form her inventory.

“Hmph. She has enough HP.” she said blithely. The casters flung spells as the front lines waded in, the army swiftly reduced to just the general. Centaurion, level 55. He rattled his gladius on his breastplate, snorting and stomping with his hooves. Marie stood before him, her guitar primed like a shotgun.

“C’mon big boy! Sonicalamity!” She strummed for a literal power chord, the vibrations tearing up the field to smash into him. He grimaced but rode it out, the A.I. calculating how much health he had, a little more than half. The girls gaped in shock.

“No way! That’s Marie’s strongest spell!” Katie cried in panic. Shelly patted her head.

“Don’t worry. She’s just softening him up a bit. We’ve still got...him.” she explained.

“He-he won’t let her get hurt?” Katie asked. Shelly smiled.

“Not on your life.”

“Graaah!” Centaurion reared up to bash in Marie’s head. She closed her eyes, but the blow never came. She opened them to see Lucien, strong, proud Lucien, holding up the hooves with his bare hands.

“Sorry I’m late, mop-up took awhile.” he said, tilting his head back and smiling. All the girls’ hearts skipped a beat, and more than one face went red.

“Hey there. The big lug finally shows his face. What took you?” Marie said, nearly in tears of relief and joy.

“Heh. We had to make a detour, but lunch is served.” he said, nodding to the giant lizard over on the hill, the tail already diced and being roasted.

“Yum! Great! and uh...how’d she do?” Marie asked cautiously.

“Oh, she did great. Check it out. Here! Catch!” Lucien heaved, picking up Centaurion with a grunt, the A.I. unable to comprehend what was happening. With a shout he was thrown into the air.

“Boulder Kick.” A rock-hard leg slammed into Centaurion’s back ,snapping it in two and draining his HP.

“Wow!” Katie cried as the new girl landed, slamming a nasty punch straight through the chestplate. She pummeled him with quick, efficient strikes, Centaurion’s HP dropping from yellow to red...then empty.

“Gahhh.” He burst into digital sparks, the girl stopping her fist mid-swing with machinelike precision. SHe stood up straight and cast off the Bouldermaw form, returning to her normal appearance. Her stoic, icy demeanor remained however, staring at the vanquished foe with emotionless disdain.

“That was awesome!” Katie cried, running up and admiring her with bright eyes, Dultina landing on her shoulder. “See? The Beastmaster classes are unbeatable!”

“Yeah yeah. But not all of us need pets to fight, squirt.” Shannon said, bopping Katie’s head with the pommel of her katana, smiling good-naturedly. “You should grow up a bit before you think of competing.”

“I’m thirteen! I’m plenty grown up! Right, Lucien?” she asked the Knight coming up to meet them.

“Well, you are a very lovely young lady,but a truly mature person knows how old they are and acts like it. Or so I’ve heard.” he said slyly, smiling. Katie couldn’t argue, she just looked down, face red.

“Y-Yeah.”

“So Wonder Boy made it home!” Shannon slapped his shoulder. “Didn’t think you’d make it. Should’a had me for backup! I’ll go with you anytime.” she said with a wink, ruffling Lucien’s short blue hair.

“Thanks, I’ll let you know.” he said cluelessly. She sighed. Again. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re all safe. I’d hate it if anything happened to any of you.”

“Hmph. Stupid boy. We can take care of ourselves.” Izumi said from up in a tree, resting on a branch. The leaves obscured her scarlet cheeks.

“Of course. I’m just glad to help out.” he said. Suddenly, he received a message. “Katie, why don’t you take Theresa back to the guild hall, show her around some more?”

“Huh? Sure!” she chirped.

“Thanks. You guys get the meat and head back, I’ve gotta take this. Go on, I’ll catch up in a bit.” he said with a disarming smile. The girls pouted, but accepted it.

“Looks like Wonder Boy’s off again to save the day. Heh, a day off now and then wouldn’t kill ya, you know.” Shannon tossed at him as Aggie raised her wand.

“Alright, gather ‘round now!”

“Go on.” Lucien nodded Theresa to the group, and she obediently went over and stood by the others. “I’ll be back before nightfall.” he called.

“You’d better!” Marie called back.

“Teleport!” Aggie said and the girls vanished, safe in the Primrose Boulevard guild hall. He smiled, and waved at where they’d been.

“Won’t be long now, won’t be long.” he muttered, then tapped his message screen.

“Hiya. It’s me.” Randal said, grinning.

“Ah, yeah. Hi. What’s up?” Lucien said, the wind clearly out of his sails.

“Aw c’mon, don’t be like that. We’re friends here, right?” Randal leered. Lucien stared at him flatly. “Well, you’re right, we’re not. But an employer should be genteel to his subordinates, right?”

“Spit it out, I don’t have all day.” Lucien demanded.

“Ah, so forceful! The ladies must simply love you.” he said. Lucien growled. “Relax, relax, i get it. But we’ve got another job for you."

"More luring players out?" Lucien asked with a raised eyebrow. Randal shook his head.

"Nah, we need to accelerate the process for more players. We'll need your mask and cape, 'Wonder Boy'."

"Yeah yeah. I know the deal." Lucien went into his inventory, taking off his royal blue-trimmed white jacket and swapping it for a black one. He exchanged his ornamental, incredible sword for a simple one with a darkened blade. He pulled a mask out and placed it on his face, virtual reality helping it hang there without straps. "What's the target?" he said, checking his blade.

"There's a guild in the Southern Plains, their levels are getting high enough to rival our orc's. It'd be a problem if they became too powerful. Some guys called the Steadfast Stars. Hear they can be nasty. Think you can handle it?" Randal said, narrowing his eyes. Lucien shoved the blade in the sheath with a black of finality.

"Of course. I'm the best." he said simply, expression neutral behind the mask.

"You'd better be." Randal growled.

"There anything else? I'd like to get the job over quick. Shouldn’t take long.” he said, his persona of the masked assailant settling over him. Unconsciously, he hunched forward slightly, speaking in a lower register.

“Nah. Just get it done.” The portal to the Plains opened up in front of him. “We’ll be contacting you again soon. We’re getting closer and closer every day, the endgame’s upon us.”

“Let me know. I’ll do whatever it takes.” Lucien said, and the message screen winked out. “Damn idiot.” He stepped through the portal, seeing a group of players in a field. If he used his regular spells, they’d be sure to recognize him. He grinned and ran, upon them in seconds. As the blade swung and the screams began, the only thing he felt was satisfaction of his goals being fulfilled.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The road was long and dusty, the sun high in the sky but the wind blew cold and hard in this region. It howled, making the man travelling it grab his broad-brimmed hat with a green hand.

Max’s eyes peered from underneath the brim, hard and sharp, staring straight ahead.

“Wait for me, Teri.” he muttered, trudging forward down the lonely path.